i've been kind of moping around the last few days, wanting to keep my distance and my mind elsewhere, but i came back to it last thing tonight and i think i've finally got it.

locking the sample rate ended up consistently playing the files too quickly through wdm - a clock issue. again - sort of, maybe. so, i broke it again. and, this time, it seems to have come out ideally.

i've noticed that the streaming device is not reappearing. that suggests to me that it's part of the sample rate conversion. this may be the combination i had previous stumbled upon which broke the kmixer in the right way: it both locks the rate on the device and uninstalls the conversion driver, leading to a straight stream. or so it seems...

i have a little more testing to do, but it's a big shot of hope. best it's sounded in some time. i will get right to this in the morning, as i've got my focus and drive back.